Saturday, December 15, 2007

Italy: Trip Recaps

Okay, this is my last entry on the Italy trip. I just remembered I haven't done the recap for Italy. I did it for Thailand, and China. So I should do it for Italy too. So here goes:

1. Celcom partner is Vodafone. Should have better international roaming rate. 3G works just fine. Only they charge by bytes (not sure about the rate). Let just say, with all the SMS, phone calls and internet browsing using my T5, my telephone bill wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be. No need tweak the configuration if you already have the phone set up for internet connection in Malaysia.

2. Shopping. From non-shopaholic view point, leather goods are of good quality and cheap especially at the small shop that don't except credit cards :). The goods look like locally made and have no recognizable brands (but then again I'm a non-shopaholic who don't know much about branded stuff). You can try haggling but don't expect the price to drop very much. It might work more to you side if you haggle discreetly with the shopkeeper.

3. Language. More people speak English in the touristy are like Rome, Florence and Pisa. They are also more 'tourist-friendly'. In less touristy area, an Italian phrase book or dictionary would help you a lot.

4. Dress smartly. Even the street vendors are impeccably dressed!

5. Shoes. Wear proper shoes. I made the mistake of not properly worn in my leather boots (the leather was still stiff). They bit my toes! Only now, after the long walks, they are properly worn in. If you go in cold weather, your shoes also should sufficiently insulate your little toes. You wouldn't want to have frost bite.

6. Take care of you belongings. I didn't have any problem. Perhaps because I wasn't smartly dressed :). But upon returning to Malaysia, I heard stories of people being pickpocket.

7. Have a great time. If you appreciate arts, culture, architecture, history, etc. you would need more than a week to see it all ;).

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Me

An eccentric who was a science-stream student in secondary school. Then continued to do a degree in IT. Upon graduating, joined the rat race doing technical stuff. After four years, being tucked away, the running shoes are out again. Now, is considering whether to walk, jog or run in the rat race. Still having hard time adjusting to a more laid back existance. Trying to fully embrace eccentricity. Would love to make traveling a full time job! Enjoys photography, reading, writing, traveling, sight-seeing, daydreaming, people-watching.